Iowa DOT News Release

Need to Pay Civil Penalties to Return to Driving? New Online Service Makes It Easier

Posted on: February 25, 2013

AMES, Iowa – Feb. 25, 2013 – The Iowa Department of Transportation has added a new service to its online services portal, myMVD, that allows suspended and revoked drivers to pay civil penalties that are due online.

Iowa DOT Motor Vehicle Division Director Mark Lowe explains, “Iowa law imposes a civil penalty when a person’s driving privilege is suspended or revoked. This civil penalty must be paid before the person’s driving privilege may be reinstated. This new online service allows suspended and revoked drivers to see whether they owe any civil penalties and how much they owe, and to pay the civil penalties by credit or debit card without making a trip to a driver’s license location.”

Persons who are suspended or revoked can find out exactly what they owe by going online, anytime to the Iowa DOTs myMVD website at https://mymvd.iowadot.gov. Just enter the required personal information and select the “Payment of civil penalties” option. That’s it. The information will be presented for viewing.

The service lists all civil penalties owed in the order they were incurred and identifies the sanction that triggered the civil penalty. Persons who owe multiple civil penalties can elect to pay all civil penalties owed or can choose to make partial payments until paid in full. The service requires that partial payments cover the full amount of at least one civil penalty and applies the payments in the order the civil penalties were incurred. A $1.50 service charge for credit and debit card processing costs is added to the payment.

Civil penalties are typically in amounts of $50, $100, or $200, depending upon the age of the person that incurred the civil penalty and when the civil penalty was incurred. Iowa law provides that civil penalties collected by the Iowa DOT are transmitted to the Treasurer of State, who deposits the money in the juvenile detention home fund.

The Iowa DOT reminds people to not be fooled by imitation websites that appear as though they can help you renew your Iowa driver’s license, change your address, get your learner’s permit or replace your license online. There is no other website that has the ability to do these things. Any money that you pay to these look-alike websites will not result in you receiving any of these services. Trust only the Iowa DOT’s myMVD website.